SOLVED: Mystery Fall River Woman is Nelita and She’s One of Many

Thanks to asking the questions many others may have been wondering, someone was able to clue us into what this photo was all about, including the fact that it is part of a much, much larger project meant to celebrate what residents view as beautiful and important. The project is formally known as Through Our Eyes.

SER-Jobs for Progress, Inc. encouraged its English Language learners to explore the world around them through the lens of a camera, and the outcome was more than 30 photos that captured the photographers' many diverse interests.

Tania is the photographer behind the photo of the woman in a pink shirt. I inaccurately described the photo of Nelita, Tania’s sister, as holding a T-bone steak and crab. In fact, it’s just crabs, and as it turns out, it’s the sisters’ favorite meal to make.

Some of the photos can be found as large-scale images throughout the city, like Nelita on Pleasant Street or the little girl at the park on the backside of the Mastery School in Downtown. All of the photos, however, can be found in Government Center’s stairwell art gallery.

The photos contain small placards along each of the photos that describe why the photo was important to the artist. In the case of Nelita, her sister Tania says, “This photo is of my sister Nelita. I like this photo because she looks happy with the crabs that I cooked for our special family gathering.”

The Through Our Eyes public art installation was supported by a Creative Commonwealth Grant from the Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts.

All of the photos can be found at fallriverportraits.org 

Special thanks to the Government Center employee who solved the mystery and sent us the correct information to do the proper follow up.